When I Mistook My Arch-Rival for My Dao Companion - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

“…This seat is not.”

Unfortunately, Fu Guzhou no longer believed him.

Having returned to the state of a “winner in life” who possesses a Dao companion, Fu Guzhou was very satisfied; even the pain gnawing at him like biting ants became bearable for a time.

In his mind, his Dao companion was likely in a state of wanting to forgive him but being unwilling to do so too easily. Thus, he was angry on one hand, yet unable to stop worrying about him on the other.

That wasn’t all; his Dao companion had even tossed him a bottle of medicinal pills.

Fu Guzhou was so moved he could almost cry.

He happily tucked away the pills given by his companion and took out his own pills to treat his wounds. Unexpectedly, this small movement was caught by Wenren Qian.

“What? Did you discover the pills this seat gave you are poison, so you don’t dare eat them?”

“Huh? No, I was just…”

“Just what?” Wenren Qian’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“I just wanted to keep the things you gave me as a collection.” Under Wenren Qian’s gaze, Fu Guzhou felt a bit guilty and hurriedly explained.

Wenren Qian frowned at Fu Guzhou. After staring until Fu Guzhou didn’t even know where to put his hands and feet, he slowly spat out a few words: “You’re blushing.”

Fu Guzhou, whose face had only been slightly flushed, now had a truly beautiful hue added to his features.

Wenren Qian looked a few more times and finally had to admit that the other’s face was very handsome, and those small earlobes that changed color on their own were also very nice to look at.

Fu Guzhou, after all, was a resilient person who had endured the title of “Lady Fu” for nearly ten years. Even after being called out for blushing, he relied on his thick skin to act as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

Simultaneously, he didn’t forget to quickly change his clothes and tidy himself up, clearing away all the scent of blood from his body.

Once he was completely clean, Fu Guzhou asked: “Where are we now?”

“The Immortal Venerable truly has a large heart, only now paying attention to our location.”

Fu Guzhou felt a bit embarrassed. It was mainly because with the other person there, he always felt there was someone trustworthy by his side, and his focus on the outside world diminished. If he were alone, he definitely would have investigated where he had fallen immediately.

Fortunately, Wenren Qian had no intention of dwelling on the matter and instead said: “Our luck is truly not great; we’ve fallen into a small secret realm.”

“A secret realm?”

“Indeed, a secret realm, and one specifically opened for ghost cultivators. Likely, the Yin energy in that great formation was too heavy and affected the void power you connected to.”

“Since it’s a secret realm, can we leave now? I observe that the Yin energy here is dense and the spatial construction is intact; it doesn’t look like a time when the realm is about to open its exit.”

Wenren Qian couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s more than just ‘not looking like it’s about to open’; it’s clear that not much time has passed since the realm opened when we entered. Otherwise, we might not have been able to catch the spatial loophole to get in.”

Fine. The secret realm had just begun. Now the question was: how many years did this secret realm last?

Secret realms in the cultivation world are countless, and not just any realm can be entered casually—otherwise, there wouldn’t be the 1,200-year “Changyuan Blood and Tears.” Some rare secret realms are for specific races, and some even devour people.

Falling into a secret realm was, in Fu Guzhou’s view, definitely not a good thing.

In his past seventeen years, he had only been to a secret realm once, and that single time he nearly didn’t make it back. At that time, he was considered one of the stronger cultivators entering the realm.

As for the realm they had entered now, first, they didn’t know what kind it was, and second, they didn’t know how many years it lasted. If their luck was bad, he might be trapped here with his Dao companion for decades or even a century.

“Rest assured, this seat has already used divine sense and spirit snakes to investigate ahead. The danger level here is not high. The only problem is…”

“Is what?”

Wenren Qian gave him a cold, indifferent glance. “Feel it for yourself.”

Fu Guzhou obediently began to feel for himself. Feeling was nothing more than releasing his divine sense to perceive this world—an extremely simple task. But once he began, the expression on his face became strange. Then, enduring the pain in his meridians, he felt for his own cultivation and finally confirmed: Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment. How had his cultivation returned to Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment?

He looked at Wenren Qian and carefully sensed the field around him, reaching a conclusion. The vanishing of the other’s murderous aura and dense demonic energy wasn’t because he had restrained his breath, but because that aura had weakened. Or rather, both of their cultivations had been suppressed to the Foundation Establishment stage. That is to say, this was a secret realm that suppressed all cultivation below the Golden Core stage.

“Such a secret realm is not simple!” Fu Guzhou murmured.

There are millions of secret realms; some can become small worlds of their own with spiritual energy far exceeding the cultivation world. But those realms mostly have direct, rigid requirements for cultivation. A place like this, where any cultivation can enter but everyone is suppressed equally to the same level once inside, is actually far more terrifying than a realm where only those of the Venerable stage can enter.

Fu Guzhou realized somewhat belatedly why his Dao companion had been waiting for him to wake up. Because demon cultivators can only take human form at the Golden Core stage, and this place suppressed them below that, Wenren Qian—even with his half-step Golden Core cultivation—could barely maintain human form at most. In other words, his Dao companion needed him!

Fu Guzhou was suddenly filled with drive.

“Do you know our situation now?”

Fu Guzhou nodded.

“A secret realm that suppresses the cultivation of outsiders never treats everyone equally. Our cultivation hasn’t even reached the Golden Core stage, while the fellows of this spatial plane might even be at the Spirit Severing stage. In such a situation, what do you think we should do?”

Fu Guzhou, who usually only needed to listen to others and act as the muscle, was suddenly asked for his opinion. He lowered his eyes and thought for a moment: “Two ways. Either stay here and wait for the secret realm to open again, or go investigate. My Master once said that the more harsh a secret realm is toward outsiders, the more likely heavenly treasures are to appear. This is an opportunity.”

Seeing Fu Guzhou actually thinking it over so earnestly, Wenren Qian only gave a light laugh. Could the other truly not sense that he was being utilized so openly?

Fu Guzhou noticed that his Dao companion particularly liked to stare at his face. However, because he felt he had wronged the man, Fu Guzhou felt guilty every time he was stared at the extremely guilty kind.

He gave a light cough. “So, do you want to go look? If you don’t want to, I can just stay with you.”

“Fu Guzhou, the power this seat can use now is pitifully meager.”

“Huh?” Fu Guzhou didn’t quite understand the other’s meaning, but he hurriedly declared his stance: “I know. It’s fine. I will protect you, rest assured.”

“You, protect this seat?” Wenren Qian said with a half-smile. “Very well then. I shall trouble the Immortal Venerable to take good care of me from now on.”

Fu Guzhou immediately agreed.

To be fair, although this secret realm was quite formidable in suppressing power, it was quiet and showed almost no signs of danger.

Fu Guzhou released his divine sense, investigating with his spirit while keeping an eye on Wenren Qian, who followed behind him at a leisurely pace as if strolling in a courtyard. Speaking of which, was the other truly “barely maintaining human form”? He didn’t look like it at all!

“Friend Wenren.”

“Speak.”

“I have a question I want to ask you.”

Wenren Qian didn’t answer but raised his eyes slightly, signaling him to speak quickly.

“I’m just purely a bit curious. If you don’t want to answer, it’s also no…”

“Speak.”

“So, exactly what kind of demon is your original form?” Fu Guzhou actually said it.

Wenren Qian did not reply. Under the silence, the atmosphere suddenly grew chillingly cold, and Fu Guzhou even felt a cold draft crawl up his spine.

“Is that not something I can ask?” Fu Guzhou asked in a small voice.

He had to admit, in his previous ten-plus years, he had almost never had contact with demons and had no idea that a demon’s original form was like a female cultivator’s age—not something to be asked casually.

This time, without waiting for Wenren Qian to react, Fu Guzhou very sensibly said: “I was wrong. I will definitely never ask such an intrusive question again next time.”

“Original form? It’s not necessarily unmentionable,” Wenren Qian said unhurriedly.

Fu Guzhou’s eyes instantly lit up.

“When you become a soul fallen beneath this seat’s sword, I will surely inform you.”

The eyes that had just lit up instantly went out. He didn’t forget to say: “Actually, I don’t particularly want to know that much. You don’t have to force yourself.”

“Rest assured. It’s no force.”

Fu Guzhou gave a light cough and silently shifted his attention to their surroundings.

Their landing point was not far from the first place Fu Guzhou wanted to investigate. Within the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, they reached that mountain range.

The mountains were covered in nameless small flowers of a deep, black-purple hue. It looked much better than where they had been earlier at least it wasn’t as desolate. But how could small flowers growing in such a gathering place of Yin energy be anything innocent?

Just as they approached the flowers, Fu Guzhou and Wenren Qian first blocked their sense of smell among their five senses.

As a result, even though they were so careful, these flowers didn’t follow common logic at all.

When they first entered, these small flowers were all unconscious, innocent-looking blooms. The moment the two walked into their midst, these flowers actually uprooted themselves from the ground and surrounded them in a circle.

They uprooted themselves!

These flowers pulled themselves up!!

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